


Childhood Pets

by Rixxy8173571m3W1p3



Series: The Fluffy Adventures With Your Boyfriend Doofus Rick [24]
Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Backstory, Childhood, Conservatories, Established Relationship, F/M, Greenhouses, Greenhouses & Conservatories, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pets, Terrariums, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Tumblr Prompt, Turtles, ambiguous past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 12:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13857498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rixxy8173571m3W1p3/pseuds/Rixxy8173571m3W1p3
Summary: DWC prompt: Zeta-7 tells you about his childhood pet (or, explains why he didn't have one)





	Childhood Pets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hoodoo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hoodoo/gifts).



You held one of the turtles on your hand, and fed him lettuce, while Rick was busy cleaning up one of the terrariums. For both of you, it was a nice way to start the day, before moving on to bigger, better things. Any chance you were given, you'd join him here, in the controlled temperature of the conservatory, happy you weren't cold, and surrounded by the cheerful scene of healthy plants, and by his little pets. A few turtles came close, waiting to see if you'd drop any lettuce their way. It was nice to see how comfortable they were, unafraid of your presence, which told you they were used to this sort of attention, and they never had reason to fear.

You asked Rick if he ever had any pets as a kid, and if they were anything like the ones he had now. He dropped a tool, sighed as he rehung a terrarium, and joined you in feeding the turtles; perhaps it was one of those classified information bits again. After a while, when you had thought he had forgotten what you asked, he answered. He never had any childhood pets, because his father hated them. Hate wasn't a word which passed his lips very often, if ever, but if he said it, then it had to be true.

Whatever it took that allowed him to answer, seemed to exhaust him. There were things he didn't talk about, his family being one of them, but today he seemed more open on the subject. He explained, that while he wasn't allowed to have pets, it didn't stop him from taking in injured animals, hiding them in the rusty shed where he carried out his experiments. And while most of the animals he took in died, he didn't regret doing all he could to try and save them.

There was a pause in conversation as you heard him let out a deep breath.

You continued, and asked why his father hated animals, and he answered that he didn't know. His father wasn't bad, or cruel, at least not in the sense that one committed acts in the spirit of evil and meanness, but he was strick. Yet, from his physical response of clenched fists, and his sudden need to busy himself with checking the chemical composition of the fountain water, you knew there was some things Zeta-7 wasn't telling you. You didn't ask anymore family related questions after that, afraid to upset him any further, and he soon returned to his usual countenance.

Perhaps, there were some things better left unknown. And as Zeta-7 fed the fish, and picked up each turtle to pet their little heads, telling them how good they were, you knew that for now this was all you needed to know.


End file.
